The Thriller`s Gone As The Hype For The Release Of Michael Jackson`s New Album Mounts, Many Wonder If The Child Star Turned Superstar Has Peaked.

August 27, 1987|By ELIZABETH ROYTE, Us Magazine

Michael Jackson`s eagerly awaited new album, Bad, may live up to its name before it has even hit the pop charts. Officially released this coming Monday, the record`s reputation has preceded it.

The hype began last year at the Grammies, when it was reported that the album would be out in the spring -- of 1986. But it wasn`t until this July that CBS/Epic premiered Bad for the country`s top record and tape distributors. Fifty retail honchos huddled over shrimp and champagne for an invitation-only listening session in the Crystal Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel; a lavish veal and pasta dinner followed on the patio of Jackson`s $10 million Encino estate. The event was catered by Wolfgang Puck, chef of Los Angeles` Tony Spago restaurant. Guests toured the antique-stuffed first floor, including Jackson`s video arcade. Then there were the flower shop, the candy stand and the Jackson gallery, which houses a life-sized wax figure of Jackson. (Is this where the Elephant Man`s bones would have gone?)

While the guards patrolled the roof, Bubbles, Michael`s pet chimpanzee, worked the floor, shaking hands. Just before dinner, in came Jackson and his sister LaToya. He was dressed all in black. ``It wasn`t like he was some cold fish who was scared of the world,`` North Carolina retailer Barrie Bergman said. ``He didn`t look like Howard Hughes.`` Michael and LaToya ate with CBS/ Records Group president Walter Yetnikoff and then table-hopped, chatting and posing for pictures with their guests.

The goal of CBS` unusual gala, said one guest, was ``to delineate Bad from anything that`s ever been released before.`` That shouldn`t be difficult; a unique combination of circumstances is conspiring to make it a tough sell. First, there are the inevitable comparisons to Thriller, which has sold 38.5 million copies worldwide and won eight Grammy Awards. Second, there`s the long delay, which may have exasperated even the most loyal Jackson fans. One CBS employee reports that the ``constant changes`` -- the album cover, choice of singles and release date -- have led to ``a lot of frustration and a little bit of anxiety`` within the company.

No one`s talking about the reason for the holdup -- was Michael dissatisfied with some of the cuts? Was Epic? For the record, of course, Jackson`s label says the album was never delayed at all; it never had been scheduled for release until now. Some took it as a bad sign that Yetnikoff barely mentioned the record at a recent CBS convention in Vancouver, British Columbia. But retailer Bergman is sympathetic: ``Oh, I`ve heard all kinds of speculation. It`s pretty obvious; if I had made an album that sold 40 million copies, I`d be scared about the next one, too.``

Merchandisers are worried about their end of Jackson`s $1 billion licensing scheme. Several had to sit tight with various Jackson products timed to cash in on Bad`s release. Max Factor, which didn`t wait, lost big bucks, bombing with Michael Jackson`s Magic Beat colognes. Also, because the record wasn`t ready, Pepsi scrapped a 60-second Jackson commercial that had been set to debut during the Grammies` February broadcast in favor of a shorter ``preview.``

Then there`s Jackson`s increasingly eccentric image. Pepsi, which has a three-year, $10 million investment in the singer, claims to be unconcerned. But Adweek has reported that Pepsi bottlers who previewed the ads ``uttered audible boos,`` and were upset by Jackson`s ``effeminate`` appearance. Yetnikoff also allegedly pulled the original cover art for Bad in favor of a more masculine photo. Still, Phil Dusenberry, chairman and chief creative officer of Pepsi`s ad agency, BBDO, insists he`s not worried: ``Michael has never been a conformist. The time he used one glove, people thought that was odd, but over time, people began to like it.... He had his snake then; had his llama. So what`s new?``

Well, to name a few things, there`s his reconstructed face (another new nose and a new chin are the latest), the hyperbaric chamber he supposedly naps in and the surgical mask he has worn in public.

So far, it would seem that those who are worrying have some cause: Reports on the first single, I Just Can`t Stop Loving You, weren`t encouraging. Consumers who expected a danceable tune have been disappointed, and sales of the single reportedly have been moderate; Epic insists that it`s more like ``phenomenal.`` Still, the most excitement the song created was when a New York radio disc jockey broke an embargo and played it two days early, for which Epic is suing.